Tuesday, May 10, 2011

The Royals, who are actually playing good baseball, are in town to kick off the Yankees' homestand. Opposing Freddy Garcia will be Kyle Davies, who is pitching to the tune of a 7.32 ERA so far this year. His peripherals aren't good, but his 5.01 FIP and 4.48 xFIP are more reasonable estimates for Davies' ERA moving forward. I'm keeping this quick - no charts or graphs today, but here are a few things about Davies' stuff and pitching style (from looking at 2010 data):

Davies works with four pitches. He throws a four-seamer that averages 91-92, a cutter at about 88, a low-80s changeup, and a high-70s curveball. There may be some sinking two-seamers thrown in with the fastball group, but he seems to be four-seam heavy.

He's a flyball pitcher, averaging only 39% groundballs over his 145 career appearances. Last year he could pick up grounders with his cutter (55%) and curve (49%), but his heater and changeup were both down around 30%.

His control is suspect. Last year he threw over 40% balls with his fastball (league average 36%), cutter (35%), and curve (41%). His changeup was above-average in this regard.

Overall, Davies will allow contact at about the league average, with below-average whiff rates on the fastball, cutter, and curve. His changeup elicited 37% whiffs on swings last year, making it a good pitch to go to in strikeout situations.

Davies is no ace, but he's not as bad as a 7.32 ERA. He's average at best in many categories, but his changeup looks pretty solid.